Prisoners in England and Wales are getting a new kind of vape. The Ministry of Justice designed it with manufacturer MOJA. Its goal is simple: stop prison vape fires caused by high powered devices circulating inside jails.

Minister Reveals a 43 Per Cent Drop in Fires

According to a written parliamentary answer, justice minister Lord Lemos confirmed the rollout. He said fire risk from vape devices is tracked through the national fire reporting system. In turn, that data shaped the new lower risk design. The minister credited it with a 43 per cent drop in overall fire incidents.

Evidence to the Justice Committee explains how the device came about. The MOJA Safer Vape Pen was built by HM Prison and Probation Service working alongside MOJA. Meanwhile, concern over prison vape fires within the estate drove the project. Staff began issuing the device to prisoners in January last year.

Big Puff Vapes Are Fuelling the Wider Risk

The wider vape fire risk goes beyond prison walls. So called big puff devices have flooded the UK market. Some claim up to 100,000 puffs from a single unit. To hit that number, makers use oversized refill containers or several tanks. Both need bigger batteries. As a result, bigger batteries raise the odds of a lithium related fire. Inside a closed prison cell, that risk grows sharply.

Laurie Pollard, Managing Director of FireChief Global, has watched the rising vape fire risk closely. He said demand for higher capacity devices rose after the ban on disposable vapes. Lithium battery fires spread fast and can turn explosive. Any device offering more than 1,000 puffs needs a battery large enough to make a fire hard to control.

Prison Vape Fires Could Have Been Stopped at the Source

Ministers already have the power to act at the point of sale. The Tobacco and Vapes Act lets government restrict or ban high risk products like these. That power exists before a device ever reaches a prisoner, or anyone else. The same choice turns up again and again in how illicit substance use gets handled more broadly, manage what happens after exposure, or close the supply before it starts. A custom vape treats the symptoms of prison vape fires. Yet it does not touch the source.

Ministry of Justice Defends the Rollout

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson defended the approach. They said the rollout came at no cost to the taxpayer. Instead, prisoners must pay for the devices themselves. The spokesperson added that cell fires have dropped, staff and prisoners are safer, and emergency service callout costs have fallen too.

A Familiar Pattern in Substance Use Policy

It remains to be seen whether one redesigned device can outpace an unregulated market. Manufacturers keep finding new ways around the rules. For now, the vape fire risk inside prisons has eased. It is a familiar shape for anyone who has followed illicit substance use policy over the years, address the exposure and leave the entry point alone. The loopholes that first sparked prison vape fires are still wide open.

Source: dbrecoveryresources